What meta-lessons are we teaching with our concert programming?
Let’s face it, most Americans are going to get their idea of “the canon” from high school arts classes. Our students’ long-term concepts of what is important in music will come directly out of the music they experience in choir. Their favorite pieces, sure, but far more than that.
We are teaching a huge meta-lesson about what is important.
What do you put in? What do you leave out? Does every student experience some Mozart, some Brahms, some Renaissance and Baroque masterpieces? What about contemporary music: Do they sing anything composed by fellow Millennials?
What about beyond the realm of Western Art Music? Spirituals are common in many high school choirs, but what about South African Folk Songs? South American music? Asian vocal music? Vocal Jazz? Broadway? A Cappella Pops? Opera Choruses? Barbershop?
In a year, there is room for a lot of music, but not enough for everything. As we’re putting together our concert programming for pedagogical reasons, step back and look at what you’ve got and what’s missing. Take time in the year to read through music from all these styles and more; even if you don’t perform them, your students will taste them, maybe hear a recording, and understand that these, too, are important parts of the canon.
I’ll add: a choir’s repertoire will and should reflect the taste and discretion of the teacher/conductor. However, a smart conductor reaches beyond their comfort zone to expose students to as much of the world as they can reach.